Aurora Cannabis receives patent for autoflowering cannabis

After several years of research, Aurora Cannabis has obtained a patent that enables it to better identify and select autoflowering characteristics of cannabis plants.

A patent for autoflowering

In June 2024, Aurora was awarded the US patent 12,002,546 for «methods for determining photoperiod sensitivity in cannabis».

This patent, registered in April 2022, is the culmination of several years of research and innovation. The technology developed makes it possible to better identify and select autoflowering traits in cannabis plants, used, for example, to adapt cannabis cultivation to various environmental conditions.

The auto-flowering cannabis plants differ from traditional cannabis in that they do not depend on the evolution of daylight (photoperiod) to enter the flowering phase. Instead, the transition takes place according to the age of the plant, making them ideal for outdoor cultivation in northern climates, where growing seasons are limited.

According to Jose Celedon, PhD, Aurora's Director of Breeding and Genetics, this development will be a game-changer for cannabis and hemp production. He emphasized that Aurora's investment in science has been crucial to this success, as the company has consistently advanced the cannabis industry through cutting-edge research.

Self-flowering outdoor cannabis

The development of autoflowering cannabis varieties is based on crossing traditional cultivars with a high THC content with the Cannabis ruderalis, a subspecies of cannabis native to Central and Eastern Europe, which has the ability to flower without depending on changes in photoperiod.

Self-flowering varieties are particularly beneficial in northern climates like Canada, where the short growing season can limit production. By using these varieties, growers can maximize yield without being constrained by the natural daylight cycle. They are also used to complement regular varieties before or after the usual growing seasons.

Aurora's research into autoflowering cannabis focuses on creating new commercial cultivars that are well adapted to the outdoor environment.

Collaboration with academic institutions

In 2023, Aurora announced it was teaming up with a UBC researcher to create a cannabis better suited to the outdoor production in Canada. The team is said to be working on the development of commercial cultivars more suited to outdoor use by crossing so-called autoflowering characteristics with «elite» cannabis genetics.

Dr Caledon, Director of Breeding and Genetics at Aurora Cannabis, is part of this program.

«As a science-backed global cannabis company, we are proud to invest in the continued advancement of cannabis cultivation that will positively impact the longevity of the industry in Canada,» said Caledon in 2023.

«Our long-standing relationship with UBC has resulted in valuable collaborative work in the field of genomics. The shared results of the GIRAFF project will be applied to Aurora's state-of-the-art cultivation practices now and in the future, helping to make the industry more sustainable.»